"Bless my soul! to hear you, one would think that we belonged to the age of Louis XV!"
"No one would think so to look at you, madame; time has stood still for you."
This compliment restored the serenity of Madame de Grangeville's expression, and she replied, simpering a little:
"Ah! you are always agreeable; would that I were back in those happy days! Tell me, Armand, if I remember aright, you used to pay court to me then,--yes, you were very attentive to me."
Monsieur de Merval seemed decidedly embarrassed; he glanced about the salon and replied at last:
"I don't deny it, madame, but I remember also that as soon as the Comte de Brévanne was introduced to you, discovering that his love was welcomed with enthusiasm, I thought only of making an honorable retreat; and I was wise, as the count became your husband."
"It was a love match, was it not, madame?"
"Oh! mon Dieu! is it possible to say, when one is so young? One always imagines that one is in love, but one does not even know what love is. You must have been very much surprised to learn that I was no longer living with Monsieur de Brévanne?"
"Yes, madame; and yet such things happen rather often."
"Look you, Armand, I am sorry that I didn't marry you; we should never have parted."
Monsieur de Merval shook his head slightly and answered with a smile:
Madame de Grangeville blushed, then assumed a serious air.
"You may perhaps believe all the slanders that Monsieur de Brévanne no doubt spread about me?"
"I knew nothing, heard nothing, madame. Monsieur de Brévanne is too well-bred a man to say anything which could possibly injure your reputation."
"Oh! when a man is jealous, monsieur, when he fancies himself betrayed, he is sometimes so absurd!"
Monsieur de Merval made no reply, but continued to look about the salon, and seemed painfully affected by the lack of harmony in the furniture.
"Yes," said Madame de Grangeville after a long pause, "women are always the victims; that is their fate; the men make the laws for us, and we are the weaker party in every respect; we must needs endure the harsh treatment, the violent scenes, the sarcasms of those gentlemen. I tell you, Armand, that all the fault is on the men's part; I know it, poor abandoned wife that I am!"